Pettersson cruises to Heritage title

HILTON HEAD ISLAND — Halfway through his round, Carl Pettersson knew that he was in control of the RBC Heritage.

The 10-year PGA veteran glanced at the leaderboard as he moved from the ninth hole to the 10th in the final round Sunday at Harbour Town Golf Links. He saw that he held a five-shot lead over Colt Knost and Zach Johnson with nine holes remaining.

Pettersson didn't give up any ground over the back nine as he shot 2-under 69 to finish at 14 under, five shots ahead of the eventual runner-up Johnson.

“When I made the turn, I looked at the scoreboard and I knew that I was a good ways ahead,” Pettersson said. “It's definitely nice playing with a four- or five-shot lead.”

It was the fifth PGA victory for Pettersson, who said he became a United States citizen just this year. He tied Jesper Parnevik for the most career wins by native of Sweden.

Pettersson went 3-under Sunday on a front nine that he dominated all week, with birdies on Nos. 1, 4 and 5. He finished 13-under overall on the course's first nine holes.

A bogey on the par-5 fifth was the only final-round blemish.

Pettersson parred the other eight holes on the back nine as no one really made a run at him. Johnson got to 11-under early, but he couldn't keep it up late and he bogeyed the final hole to finish at 9-under.

But it wasn't until Pettersson parred the 17th hole that he allowed himself to relax. He said he didn't feel like he had won the tournament until he reached 18.

“It was more relief than anything,” Pettersson said of walking up the 18th fairway with a sizable lead. “It was stressful up until the final hole.”

Pettersson entered the final round with a one-shot lead on Knost at 12-under.

Knost struggled early on, just as he did when the pair played together Saturday. He wound up in the rough on his first tee shot and bogeyed to fall to 10-under.

After a second-hole birdie, Knost made a disastrous triple bogey on the par-4 third. He had to take a drop after hooking his drive left, and he overshot his approach. He fell to 8-under, five shots behind Pettersson.

“The third hole killed me,” said Knost, who was the leader going into the weekend. “The last couple of days I didn't hit it very good.”

Defending champion Brandt Snedeker struggled on the back nine to finish tied for 17th at 2-under. He shot 75 after entering the final round at 6-under and six shots off the lead.

Beaufort's Mark Anderson shot 68, his best round of the week, to tie for 13th at 3-under. Kyle Stanley of Berkeley Hall finished at 6-over and Savannah's Brian Harman shot 82 to finish 13-over and tied for 70th.

Pettersson became the fourth player in the last seven years to win the Heritage without competing in the Masters the week before. After a ceremony on the 18th green Sunday evening, he could only admire the traditional plaid jacket that goes to the Heritage winner, as he looked out toward Calibogue Sound.

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